The Beekeeper's Apprentice, or On the Segregation of the Queen: Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, Book 1

In 1915, Sherlock Holmes is retired and quietly engaged in the study of honeybees when a young woman literally stumbles into him on the Sussex Downs. Fifteen years old, gawky, egotistical, and recently orphaned, the young Mary Russell displays an intellect to impress even Sherlock Holmes - and match him wit for wit. Under his reluctant tutelage, this very modern 20th-century woman proves a deft protégée and a fitting partner for the Victorian detective.

A fabulous new take on Sherlock Holmes

This is Laurie King’s interpretation of Sherlock Holmes in his later life as a secondary character to his apprentice, Mary Russell. I was pleasantly s..Show More »urprised and I believe I am addicted to the Mary Russell series. I downloaded the second book of the series within moments of finishing this book.

I had misgivings about reading this. I love Doyle’s Sherlock and I was worried that King’s interpretation would make me unhappy. So, with trepidation and after recommendations from both my parents and my niece, I picked it up. My niece and I enjoy discussing some YA fiction and as a result I was expecting something on that level. I had made a terrible assumption based on this and forgot that she is an extremely precocious 13 year-old who loves and chooses to read Shakespeare…repeatedly. She sometimes speaks in old english and I have to ask for translations. This is not YA fiction. This is a PG adult mystery, and it is wonderful.

Laurie King did a very intelligent thing. She stated, as Mary Russell our first person point of view, that her interpretation of Holmes was likely to offend or upset a reader who is looking for Watson’s interpretation. Her view of Holmes is quite different, it is the view of an equal, and Watson never viewed himself as Holmes equal. This allowed me, as the reader, to let that go. Bravo Laurie King!

This is the story of how a young woman, recently orphaned and forced to live with a detestable distant Aunt, becomes the Apprentice of the great Sherlock Holmes. The book develops their friendship through her training. Holmes is still endearingly odd, but he is not seen from a pedestal. This is a coming of age story through several mysteries brought to Holmes and Russell while she is going to school at Oxford. Russell grows from the age of 16 to 18 during the span of the novel and Holmes is in his 50′s. Their relationship is not romantic.

The writing is beautiful and spoiled me. I picked up a distinctly YA paranormal romance after this and abandoned it promptly because I couldn’t read it. I couldn’t be fair. My expectations had been raised. King did a fabulous job of staying true to her characters voice, time frame, and local. In comparison, I kept seeing where this other author threw in a few words to try to make it authentic to the local and then would forget and dispense with them. It nearly drove me to madness and I had to remember this was a new author. I will try to read it again later.

Jenny Sterlin's narration is wonderful. Her voice perfectly matches the material. Her accents were wonderful and her character differentiation was superb. My preference will be to listen rather than read this series. I don’t think my internal voice could do it justice after listening to her interpretation.

As for ‘The Beekeepers Apprentice’, it was a wonderful period piece during and right after World War I. It allows the reader to enjoy Sherlock Holmes, Mrs. Hudson, and Watson with a fabulous addition of Mary Russell.

A Monstrous Regiment of Women: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes: The Mary Russell Series, Book 2

It is 1921 and Mary Russell - Sherlock Holmes's brilliant apprentice, now an Oxford graduate with a degree in theology - is on the verge of acquiring a sizable inheritance. Independent at last, with a passion for divinity and detective work, her most baffling mystery may now involve Holmes and the burgeoning of a deeper affection between herself and the retired detective.

Hang in there

If you liked the first one, you may like this one. It's more ... um ... intellectual? There's a lot of theological debate about women, which I really ..Show More »enjoyed but I can also see why some people would find it tedious. I thought it was fun and interesting, though it caused the plot to drag a bit. But I think I will listen to this again. There was a lot I think I might have missed the first time.

A Letter of Mary

Mary Russell, assistant and protegee of the great Sherlock Holmes finds herself and her partner once more mired in mystery. When Mary is given a scrap of papyrus by an old archeologist friend, she has no inkling of what it contains. Written in Greek, it could be a letter from a previously unknown apostle - who just happens to be female. However, the situation moves from being curiously exciting to chillingly perilous, as the archeologist is murdered and Mary and Sherlock's home is ransacked. With the possible implications of the fragment, the list of suspects seems endless.

A Letter of Mary: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes: The Mary Russell Series, Book 3

The third book in the Mary Russell–Sherlock Holmes series. It is 1923. Mary Russell Holmes and her husband, the retired Sherlock Holmes, are enjoying the summer together on their Sussex estate when they are visited by an old friend, Miss Dorothy Ruskin, an archeologist just returned from Palestine.

Sherlock, Mary Russell, & Mary Magdalene....what?

When I finished King’s second novel in this series, ‘A Monstrous Regiment of Women,’ I was left a bit uncomfortable and unhappy. King had always kept..Show More » Mary and Sherlock’s relationship as a mentor and one of a guardian. At the end of that book Sherlock proposes. Their relationship while strained and questioning in the book hadn’t been romantic, but Mary had turned 21 and their relationship caused questions, especially when traveling together.

My first response was that King was throwing in a needless romance and I was unhappy. Reading this series for me, however, is a family affair. My ever practical and precocious niece was put in the position where she had to educate her aunt(kindly of course.) She reminded me that I was judging the time of the book by present day values. I needed to remember that Sherlock and Mary could not continue working together without causing scandal and destroying Mary’s reputation. A marriage between a twenty-one year old woman and a fifty year old confirmed bachelor out of mutual respect rather than love was far more respectable than working alone together unchaperoned. My niece, of course, was absolutely correct. This, then thirteen year old is extremely smart, and her valuable insight allowed me to once again respect King’s skill and intelligence as a writer.

This settled, I picked up ‘A Letter to Marry,’ with an audible sigh of contentment. This book starts with a visit from an elderly scholar and friend they had met in Palestine in book one. She gave a generous gift of a papyrus believed to have genuinely been written by Mary Magdalene. You can imagine how this would enrage and turn the academic community upside down if validated. Shortly, after their friend departs company she did in an automobile accident and dies. Foul play can not be ruled out, and Sherlock weedles Mary away from her research to investigate the cause of death.

King did a wonderful job. I read mysteries frequently to escape. I’m not generally looking for an overly intelligent masterpiece but King is an exception to that rule. She provides an intelligent and exciting read. She creates a mystery I rarely guess the outcome of and a fabulously accurate piece of historical fiction as well. If you like Sherlock Holmes pick this up; if you enjoy pre WW II historical fiction pick this up; if you enjoy a fictionalized study of sociological gender roles and the human mind pick this up. I’m sounding like a broken record. I recommend you read it, but remember the series starts with ‘The Beekeepers Apprentice.’

The Moor

Sherlock Holmes has received a call for help from an old friend. The Reverend Barring-Gould, noted parson and folklorist, wants Holmes to investigate some strange sightings. When Mary Russell realizes where their search will take them, however, her blood runs cold. A ghostly coach and giant dog have been glimpsed on Dartmoor - the chilling landscape of the Hound of the Baskervilles. As Holmes and Russell work through a challenging tangle of evidence, gossip, and legend to uncover the truth, the grey mystery of the moor swirls around them.

The Moor: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes: Mary Russell, Book 4

In the eerie wasteland of Dartmoor, Sherlock Holmes summons his devoted wife and partner, Mary Russell, from her studies at Oxford to aid the investigation of a death and some disturbing phenomena of a decidedly supernatural origin. Through the mists of the moor there have been sightings of a spectral coach made of bones carrying a woman long-ago accused of murdering her husband - and of a hound with a single glowing eye.

******************

I loved this story. First off, I have to say that Jenny Sterlin is the best narrator I've ever had the chance to listen to. She is at her absolute b..Show More »est in this novel. Honestly, I couldn't ask for more and would even go as far as to buy books just because she is reading them....

With all that aside the story is really great. It has a good, involved plot that pulls you along. I wouldn't go as far as to say there was suspense at every turn, but it was still a great story. I have listened to this three times back to back. I just can't seem to get enough.

The tales use of Hound of the Baskervilles as a backstory really connects it to the best of Conan Doyle as well.

The characters are wonderful, The story is well thought out and rich,Jenny is not just a narrator here, but the breathing equivalent of Mary Russell which makes it seem more like she is recalling the past rather than reading a book. Her different accents are incredible, my favorite parts.

I can't think of any way to improve things,,, even the length was spot on

It is 1918. Coming out of retirement, an aging Sherlock Holmes travels to Palestine with his 19-year-old partner, Mary Russell. There, disguised as ragged Bedouins, they embark on a dangerous mission. If they fail, the holy city goes up in flames.

if you like Russell as theologian

and like to imaginitvely explore the geography (physical and spiritual) of the holy land circa 1919, then you will love this.

I agree wit..Show More »h other reviewers that this is not for those who want a fast-paced, straight forward mystery.

I love the narration; in fact, I don't think I'd enjoy reading this series. But I can see that the very distinctive style is one that listeners will either love or hate, especially if they discovered this series first in print.

A bonus: This fiction can actually help you better understand the Middle East and the aftermath of WWI - It sent me to listening to "Paris 1919" once I'd finished.

O Jerusalem

Coming out of retirement, an aging Sherlock Holmes has traveled to Palestine with his 19-year-old partner, Mary Russell. There, disguised as ragged Bedouins, they embark on a dangerous mission. If they fail, the holy city will surely go up in flames.

Justice Hall

A trail of ominous clues comprise a mystery that leads from an English hamlet to the city of Paris to the wild prairie of the New World. The trap is set, the game is afoot; but can Holmes and Russell catch an elusive killer, or has the murderer caught them?

Best Holmes since Arthur Conan Doyle

This is my favorite detective series; the writing is superb and the narrator is perfect. This is currently the only one available on Audible, however..Show More », and although the book can stand on its own as a complete story, it is a richer experience to listen to them in chronological order. Assuming Audible will make the rest of the series available soon, the order is: Beekeeper's Apprentice, O Jerusalem, Monstrous Regiment of Women, A Book of Mary, The Moor, and Justice Hall last. (This is not the order in which they were written, but the order in which they take place.)

Justice Hall

With her debut novel, A Grave Talent, Laurie R. King became the first novelist since Patricia Cornwell to win prizes for Best First Crime Novel on both sides of the Atlantic. Few authors dare to touch the classic canon of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, but in this charming and suspenseful series, Edgar award-winner King succeeds with triumphant originality. Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, are now on their sixth thrilling outing together.

The Game: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes

The seventh Mary Russell novel finds her searching for the missing Kimball O'Hara, the famous "Kim" of the Rudyard Kipling novel.

another very enjoyable trip

I love how Ms King can take me to other places and times so perfectly. It is as though she has traveled there and then herself. Add to that the myster..Show More »y and fun and you have a wonderful story. Jenny Sterlin is superb as always, a real pleasure to listen to. I was sorry when it ended.

Locked Rooms

New York Times best-selling author Laurie R. King has won sweeping critical acclaim and an impressive collection of awards for her writing. Although other writers have tried, no one has matched King's ability to capture the allure of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary sleuth, Sherlock Holmes.

Don't miss this jewel!

This is a jewel of a book! It's part of a series, and you won't want to miss any of its related titles. I only wish there were a dozen more of them.
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I ran across the first book in this series by accident several years ago. I listened to it as an audiobook, and have no doubt the narration was key to my liking the book so much.

The premise is clever: These are the stories of Sherlock Holmes -- who supposedly was not a fictional character at all -- and his brilliant young female protegee, Mary. King deftly explains away any evidence that Holmes was not a real person, including Conan Doyle's involvement in the his chronicles. She depicts Holmes as a delightfully eccentric and complex man, making him much more appealing and interesting than Doyle's sometimes dour character.

Mary is the real star of these books, however, and she is one of the most fascinating fictional characters I've ever encountered. She is both brave and vulnerable, and brilliant without being intimidating. Her relationship with Holmes grows as the series continues, and is characterized by a mutual love and respect very uncommon during the time in which the novel is set. Just seeing the brilliant Mary and equally brilliant Holmes interact is worth the price of admission, and the clever plotlines and dialogue are icing on the cake.

The narrator for this series is unparallelled, capturing the essence of both Mary and Holmes so precisely that I can't imagine how anyone could enjoy this book as much in print.

If you're a Holmes fan, you won't want to miss this series. If you're not, this might turn you into one!

Locked Rooms

In 1924, San Francisco is booming. The great fire and earthquake of 1906 cleared the ground for a modern city, but the closer she comes to the place she used to call home, the more troubling Mary Russell's dreams become. As Russell and her husband, the great detective Sherlock Holmes, attempt to settle their affairs in the City by the Bay, Mary's past isn't the only thing that catches up with them....

The Language of Bees: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes

New York Times best-selling author Laurie R. King has won or been nominated for every major award in mystery writing. King's beloved sleuth Mary Russell here attempts to reverse her legendary husband, Sherlock Holmes', greatest failure.

To all Holmes buff's,

I have read all of the short stories that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about Sherlock Holmes in the Strand, I have seen every movie that I could find ..Show More »about Holmes, I have read other author's that have written about Holmes, and I even countinue to watch the British T.V. series about Sherlock Holmes...needless to say I am a Holmes Buff, and I can pick out a phony in a second (in my eyes a phony is someone that writes about Holmes but has not done their home work about him and his manorizisms)...
Laurie King should be considered the reincarnated Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!!!
Laurie hits the essence of Sherlock Holmes out of the park, and it feels as though I am listening to Doyle tell new stories about Holmes and his new apprentice.
These audiobooks are great whether you are a Holmes reader or not and I highly recommend this story and any others written by Laurie King to anyone that loves mystery, suspense, and a little brain work also!

The God of the Hive: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes

New York Times best-selling author Laurie R. King enjoys immense popularity and a resounding chorus of critical acclaim for her exquisite mysteries. The God of the Hive continues the thread King began in The Language of Bees, in which Mary Russell and her famous husband, Sherlock Holmes, face trouble with Scotland Yard and the deadliest of adversaries.

Imaginative and engrossing listen

I don't think anyone new to the characters (Russell along with King's casting of M & S Holmes) would find this a 5 star listen, but King fans may. The..Show More »re's not much new to the characters, but after a slow start, there is enough atmosphere and winding plot to completely absorb the listener.

You need not have read part 1 - "The Language of Bees" because that plot is nicely summarized in bits distributed through the first quarter of the present work; however, I think to appreciate this listen you need to have gotten to know Mary Russell and the aging Holmes through at least a couple of the previous instalments. Also, you must like Sterlin's narration style because more characters wind their way into the tale than usual.

I think this the strongest in the series next to the first book, "The Beekeeper's Apprentice."

As Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes embark on their 11th adventure together, they find themselves immersed in the world of silent filmmaking. Here, the pirates are real—and unlike the shooting done with a camera, this sort can be deadly.

Not my favorite Mary Russell

Pirate King is the 11th Mary Russell book by Laurie R. King. I still like Mary Russell, but this wasn't my favorite book of hers.

Recap:..Show More » Mary and Holmes are caught up in another adventure as Mary infiltrates a silent film company to investigate allegations of illegal activity.

Review: I am a huge Mary Russell fan. She's independent, she speaks seven languages, and she can throw a knife. However, this book does not showcase her many talents. Pirate King is subtitled "a novel of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes." Unfortunately, there is a lack of suspense, little Holmes, and even Mary is missing for a stretch.

The movie industry is one of my least favorite settings. I've seen these stock characters and standard situations before. I was hoping in a Mary Russell book some people might buck their stereotypes. Maybe the director could be accommodating or the female lead humble. No such luck. Even Mary falls into standard cliches as she travels and doesn't listen when her translator warns her about cultural differences. Listen to your informants, Mary. You're better than this.

The sections with Holmes were excellent, as always. I would have liked to have more time with him and Mary together. It would be great if they could just be home to see their day to day interactions.

Reading: For me Jenny Sterlin is Mary Russell. Her voice takes some getting used to. It's a bit gravelly, and she makes Mary a little more sarcastic than I picture her, but the reading is so energetic I just get swept away. This story had a couple British pronunciations I liked. Shiek is pronounced "shake" and harem "har-eem." It's always fun to learn a new language.

Final thoughts: For anyone who likes Sherlock Holmes or strong women characters

Garment of Shadows: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, Book 12

In a strange room in Morocco, Mary Russell is trying to solve a pressing mystery: Who am I? She has awakened with shadows in her mind, blood on her hands, and soldiers pounding on the door. Out in the hivelike streets, she discovers herself strangely adept in the skills of the underworld, escaping through alleys and rooftops, picking pockets and locks. She is clothed like a man, and armed only with her wits and a scrap of paper containing a mysterious Arabic phrase. Overhead, warplanes pass ominously north.

Be Careful What You Wish For

I complained last time when she wrote the Pirate book, can't even remember the name of it now, and wrote a rather snippy review and posted it on both ..Show More »amazon and audible about how I thought it was all fluff and no bite.

Well folks, I guess the old adage "be careful what you wish for" is true because this one is certainly full of edges. There is certainly a lot more Holmes in this one but the readers who are hoping for a heating up of the relationship between Holmes and Russell are still going to be disappointed. Holmes does not wear his heart on his sleeve and neither does he allow readers to rummage through his private feelings to see if he has any. If he does they are definitely private. Actually I love this about him. It's so true to the Holmes Canon.

Anyway, the book had so many edges, some of them convoluted that it took me until the end of the book to really figure out was really going on and then I wasn't exactly sure I approved of them. I got a real dose of midleastern politics during 1924 and that helped me get a handle on some of what was going on.

I am going to give this book 4 1/2 stars in my journal not because I am downgrading the book it's self but because I'm not exactly sure that Holmes, Russell and the Hazar brothers should have been involved in this kind of "game". Just me probably.

ps: What's with that "other dude" anyway? This is the 12 book in the series for heaven's sake. We don't need someone coming in and being a different voice for Holmes at this late date. Bad idea whoever it was that had it.